Stunning Air-to-Air photographs of the Latvian Baltic Bees Aerobatic Display Team

The Baltic Bees Jet Team is an aerobatic team which took part in several events in Poland this year. Here are some amazing air-to-air shots of the team, taken in connection with the Poznan Aerofestival.

The Latvian Baltic Bees team flies six L-39 Albatros jets, capable of reaching speeds close to 900 kilometers per hour, with 22 meters per second climb rate.

The aircraft used by the team are painted in a characteristic blue-yellow-striped color scheme, with a silhouette of a bee, painted under the fuselage. What is interesting, the team offer aerobatic flights for “civilians”: they provide a chance to fly a quasi combat aircraft (with the instructor pilot) to people who have always dreamed of flying a fighter jet.

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The Baltic Bees provides these services as one of a few companies in Europe.

Filip Modrzejewski, editor-in-chief of the Foto Poork website, accompanied the Latvian pilots last year, during their transfer from Jurmala (close to Riga) to Poznan. The team flew to Poland in order to take part in the Aerofestival air show, taking place at the Ławica airport in Poznan.

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The whole cruise, in a “Diamond Trail” formation, took place at FL250. Filip was tasked with taking photos of the team, flying in the jet No. 5, piloted by Valery Sobolev, as this was the best position for him to take good shots – all aircraft were visible during the climb, or during a low-pass. In case of air-to-air photo-shoots, good communication is the key – thanks to that it is possible to achieve good photographic position.

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Notably, next year’s edition of Aerofestival has been already scheduled on May 28 and 29, 2016. At the moment, the details related to the planned highlights remain unknown. We will – most certainly – attend the event and provide you with a report.

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The photos in this post include some shots shot on the ground.

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All Images – Credit: Filip Modrzejewski / Foto Poork.

 

About Jacek Siminski
Standing contributor for TheAviationist. Aviation photojournalist. Co-Founder of DefensePhoto.com. Expert in linguistics, Cold War discourse, Cold War history and policy and media communications.